Detectives
by ProjectManhattan
Summary: A Law & Order: CI and Heroes crossover set in New York in the Heroes universe towards the beginning of season 1. A certain detective arouses suspicions at a Sylar crime scene. Goren and Parkman each try to get inside the others head. Spoilers for Endgame.
1. Chapter 1

Robert Goren stared down at the table, examining the small scratches on the surface. He did this after counting the number of bricks in the wall, the number of tiles on the ceiling, and the number of faint handprints left on the large mirror in front of him. The third number was admittedly small, but the 1PP mirror was always kept clean. There was something oddly irksome and foreign about this place.

Though he'd never been in this particular room before, this particular size or wall color, he was nevertheless used to the environment; a cold, sterile room, the large mirror, an uncomfortable chair or two.

The thing that he was not used to, however, was being the one in handcuffs.

This place was so alien and, again, irksome. His worry and agitation manifested themselves in his observations, even more compulsive than usual. Two floor tiles were cracked, whoever had been in his chair last had worn a cheap cologne (an annoying smell that didn't exactly help his agitation), and it had been almost precisely one hour and forty-three minutes since he'd been brought in. He still wasn't sure why he was there.

He glanced up at the mirror, wondering who was on the other side (if anyone). He debated on tapping his foot on the floor or shifting a little in his seat. Goren wanted to, it wasn't in his nature to sit still, but he didn't want to draw any more attention to himself than he already had.

One hour and forty_-four _minutes_..._

He just kept staring at the surface. That was his best bet for now. No new information, no new clues as to what was going on. He figured he might as well just relax and wait it out.


	2. Chapter 2

"I don't like this" said Parkman, looking down at the FBI agent he was paired with. She ignored him.

They continued following two officers in uniform down the hall toward the interrogation room.

"Doesn't this ring any bells?"

She continued to ignore him. He lightly grabbed her shoulder in an attempt to stop her.

"Huh? Remember the fun times we had when we first met?"

She was good at this, ignoring him even through the physical contact. They rounded a corner.

"When you slammed me up against a fence and cuffed me?"

She stopped, though she didn't meet his eyes. The officers slowed down and looked back over their shoulders, obviously eager to get the ordeal over with. They'd heard rumors over what the man being held in the room was supposedly capable of.

"This is different."

"What?"

She finally looked up.

"He can't..." she paused, looking at the policemen. "He can't do what you do, Parkman."

He put a hand to his forehead, leaning down more. "How can you be sure?"

"We have you here, don't we?"

"You didn't before! You didn't when one of your buddies arrested a _detective_ on, a- a _hunch_!"

"It wasn't just a hunch."

"You didn't even tell me that he was... he's fucking _NYPD_, Hanson! You could've told me that before I wasted hours flying from home to freakin' _New York_..."

Her expression caused him to calm down (though only a little).

"That, that lady out there, the loud one, the one who was yelling at us, telling them to release him, threatening to sue. She's his partner, isn't she?"

Audrey gave her best "So, what?" look.

"I really, _really_ hope for the FBI's sake that it wasn't just some hunch..."

On that note he gave up. He sighed and they continued walking (to the relief of the two officers).

Before long they reached a door. A policeman unlocked and opened it. Audrey stepped in, but Matt hung back. He was frowning.

"If he's _innocent_, you'll figure it out, right? Here, just wait in this room and look through the glass. _I'll_ go talk to him."

He nodded and stepped in, the door closing with a click behind him. He crossed his arms and watched Audrey step into the other room and begin the interrogation.


	3. Chapter 3

The door to the interrogation room opened.

Goren slowly lifted his head up. It had been quite some time since he'd counted the tiles. Quite some time since he'd expected anyone to come in.

A woman, freckles, in her thirties, blond, air of authority. Maybe unfounded authority. She glanced at the mirror before sitting down. A little insecure.

Sitting down in a chair opposite Bobby, as close as she could get and as far away as she could be. She was afraid of him, but didn't want to show it.

"Robert Goren," she started, the smallest hint of nervousness in her voice. "We'd-"

"I want a lawyer."

She crossed her arms. Her accent; she wasn't from around here.

"This is a special case, and-"

"Right to counsel. I want a lawyer."

"Your behavior at the crime scene, detective, we-"

"I've been in here- how, how many hours now? A lawyer."

"How did you know the name?"

He put his head in his hands. "What?" It was muffled. He was exhausted.

"'Sylar.' I had some friends of mine on the scene immediately, they overheard-"

"This... this is about _a watch_?"

Audrey stiffened. She glanced up at the glass.

"I- haha, I've been held against my will for, for a _watch_?"

He looked up at her, hands in the air on either side of his head.

"You don't believe me?"

She didn't.

He still found the situation funny, despite the fact that he'd been deprived of his baser needs for quite some time now. It had taken several hours to transport Hansen and Parkman to the station- no other considered themselves stupid enough to be near someone who could slice their head open and pop the top off.

The fact that Goren was weary was an added bonus that only served to make Audrey's job easier (from her perspective, at least).

"On the banister... near the body." He met her eyes, making hand gestures as he talked. "There was a watch. Not expensive, not really all that, uh, unique, apart from the brand name. I'd never seen it before. It was on there, white letters lined in black- '_Sylar_'."

Another glance at the glass. Still didn't believe him.

"Look, I know I'm a little _different_, I know it's not normal for a detective to talk to himself at the scene, especially at such an unusual scene and I'm not sure what some, some watch has to do with all of this, but-"

"We didn't find a watch at the scene."

"I've been here for _hours_! I'm tired. I- look." He tried to calm himself down. "I'm sure if I were allowed a phone call, if I could call my captain, or the district attorney. This could all be sorted out. Come on, I have a job to do! One phone call, I'll be out of here, no more trouble for you. Promise." A weak smile. Hansen found it creepy.

"I was there earlier, Goren, there wasn't a watch..."

"Even my partner! Please, I..."

She turned her head to look at the mirror.

"_Stop it!_"

Her head snapped back, her expression a little shocked. A click started at the door, but no tap at the window; she was safe. She held up a hand, instructing the worried officers outside that there was no need to come in.

Goren was tired of social niceties, tired of putting on a face. It was clear that acting polite, acting normal, wouldn't help him. He figured he'd do what he was best at.

"Can't you do this on your own? Stop looking at the glass. Who's behind there, huh?" He slammed his cuffed fists on the table. Another small jump, another wave at the door. She was losing her composure.

He scratched his head, frowned, rested his elbow on the table and his chin on his writs. "Why won't you tell me what's going on? _I want a fuckin' lawyer._" On "_lawyer_" he slammed a hand on the table.

She jumped a fraction. Still afraid, despite the fact that there were obviously people waiting outside. An involuntary response. Yet another motion.

"If you do that one more time," she said quietly, leaning forward, "if you so much as _move_ again, I swear, I will have five armed security guards-"

"Fine, I'll stay still." He raised his eyebrows. "Whoever you are, this is a violation of my rights. Arresting me under vague matters, keeping me here, attempting to question me and denying my..."

A tap at the glass. Two knocks. Nothing bad, Parkman just wanted to speak to her. Fine. Sylar or not, this guy made her uneasy.

"Where're you goin'?"

She didn't bother to answer. The door clicked behind her.

Goren sighed, figured it was okay to move now, and let his head hit the table.


	4. Chapter 4

"We need to stop this."

He looked a little alarmed. She closed the door behind her, then crossed her arms.

"_Need_ to?"

"He didn't do it, okay?"

"How can you be sure?"

"You know how I'm sure! Besides..."

Audrey raised her eyebrows.

"I don't like this."

"You don't usually seem to mind it."

"It's him! His head. He's- he... I don't like it."

"This isn't a game, Parkman!"

Matt took a step forward, and gestured at the man behind the glass. "The second you walked in there, he had you all figured out."

"No, he was tired, and most bastard detectives have that-"

"The violence was just an act."

Audrey blinked.

"He's not violent at all. He isn't even that tired, either, despite the fact you've had him in that room for so long. He was manipulating you. He systematically gathers information on a person, then he uses it to crack them. You should've known that before going in there."

He sighed. "_And_ he didn't do it."

Audrey refused to believe him. Not only because it was a risky move that could lead to her being demoted, could lead to all sorts of complications the FBI would have to deal with, even to press coverage (depending on how much the NYPD wanted to lash out), but it was the first good lead, the first in any form she'd had since she saw Parkman save the little girl. She was desperate. People were being brutally murdered and there was nothing she had done that had stopped it or had even slowed it down. This guy had seemed to be such an opportunity. She had been so sure...

"You only told me he was a detective. What rank is he?"

She sighed. "Detective-Investigator, first grade rate for the Major Case Squad. Before that he served in the Army, in between he had a stay in Narcotics."

"So you went in alone to interrogate a huge detective with years of experience? He's better at this than you could ever be, Hansen."

"Dammit, Parkman, there's more to it than his experience! He's unstable."

"I can see that." he said, "Being inside his head was pretty damn weird."

"His family has a history of mental illness, he..." she frowned. "He's so skilled because he can see things through the eyes of a criminal. He may be a good investigator, Parkman, but remember that this is as far as he's gotten. He has issues."

"_Really_?" Being able to read Goren's mind was an intensely unpleasant experience. The man thought very quickly, very loudly, in bizarre bursts at times and long, eloquent phrases in others. The rationality of his thoughts wasn't very consistent, either. He didn't want to hear the guy describing _him_ in that freaky manner, didn't want to be picked apart.

"Just come in there with me. We might as well make sure."

He wanted to argue. He didn't want the same to happen to him, didn't want to be in the same room with the unnerving (if innocent) man. Being who he was, though, there was no way he would admit that was the reason. He agreed to go.

He looked into the room, noticing that Goren was sitting with his arms in his lap and his face on the table. Goren was also wondering if anyone else was about to be brought in.

As much as he hated having it, Matt was glad that this guy hadn't gotten his ability. He was unnaturally intuitive enough as it was.


	5. Chapter 5

"Who's the friend?" asked Goren, his head still on the table.

"Sit up."

"I thought I wasn't allowed to move..."

Matt grimaced, reacting to the strange sound of Goren's mind at such a close proximity. It was already at full force. Goren sat up and glanced over, hands still in his lap. Audrey was back in her seat, and Parkman was standing in the corner next to the door, arms folded.

"Who is he? A detective?"

On 'detective', there was a nearly imperceptible shift in body language on Matt's part. A stiffening, a hardened glare. Resentment? Jealousy? Odd.

This registered with Matt. Just as he'd thought, Goren was creeping his way in. He relaxed, trying to keep his composure.

Goren smiled up at him anyway, that eerie, toothy, childish grin he loved to use, holding constant eye contact with Parkman. "_I'm_ a detective. Did you know that?"

Unnerving. Parkman didn't answer.

Audrey broke the silence. "You are here, Goren, because of your actions at the crime scene where Bethany Pierce and her parents were murdered."

Goren tilted his head, ignoring her, concentrating on Parkman. "They took me away from that scene in, in an armored car." He laughed. "Out of the blue they pushed my partner out of my way, shoved me on the ground, and they cuffed me at gunpoint. Then into the car."

He glanced at Audrey. His smile faded. "Whatever you pulled compromised the integrity of that crime scene. And whoever you are, it was in our jurisdiction..."

She began to speak, but he cut her off. Back to Parkman. "My partner, my _senior partner_, a fine _detective_" (Goren was enjoying this) "she-" Parkman blinked. The woman outside. "Yes, _she_... about five three, tough little thing, nonetheless they shoved her into that banister you heard me talking about earlier before tackling me."

Parkman winced. So he was a decent guy. That outfit, the earlier reaction, the fact that he was here... a cop? Who could never make detective?

Matt's eyes widened.

Now for Audrey. He leaned forward and got up out of his seat a little. He raised his eyebrows, balled his hands into fists, and lowered his voice. "Whatever position I may be in, so help me, if she's off in some holding cell somewhere-"

"Stop," said Parkman, not meeting Goren's eyes.

Goren looked up at him, sat back down, and leaned back in the chair with a sigh.

"This is serious," said Audrey. "The way they said you found the hidden bodies in that house, the way two longtime policemen vomited and had to be sent home when they saw what happened, but _you-_"

"I didn't do anything!"

"She told me that you laughed," said Parkman.

Goren raised his eyebrows. "I've been doing this for a _long_ time, err..." An attempt to get Parkman's name while simultaneously fucking around with him. No response. Oh well. "I've seen children smothered in their beds, I, I've come across so many people killed, tortured, destroyed in horrible ways for painfully insignificant and petty- petty reasons. So, um, excuse me if the severed head of an old man lying on a kitchen counter next to a cantaloupe, well... I, I couldn't _help_ myself."

Audrey shook her head. "Erratic actions at a crime scene so close to your place of work, Detective Goren-"

"Erratic!" said Goren, shifting gears. "That,_ that's_ what you're using? What's next, hmm?" Again, he leaned toward her. "You can't get any leads, so you hunt down the _nut job_ cop with-" (he glanced at Parkman) "a, ah, a sense of humor? You two, I... I've heard it all. My arrest record and the conviction rate of criminals I've done so much to hunt down, nobody looks at that. I've been called antisocial and erratic by, by people I trust. I've been called worse, really. Plenty of times."

"People _hate_ me. You two really have no idea! I've been blamed for all sorts of shit. My partner, ever since she got stuck with me... neither of us have been promoted in years. Hey, ha, what's next? You going to bring up my deadbeat father, my drug-addict brother, or my schizophrenic mother? It's been done before, trust me..."

Matt leaned forward, trying to understand what he was getting. Finally, he had something. He looked down at Goren. "Your father..."

Goren looked up at him.

"A deadbeat, who cheated on my mom, drank too much, and left when I was fuckin'-"

"No, _your father_."

Goren paled. "My...?"

"Maybe we actually have something now."

"Just what are you insinuating?"

"You were just thinking about him. You never really knew, right?"

"Never knew what?"

"You're a good liar."

"_Never knew what_?"

Audrey turned around and stared at Matt.

"_Mark Ford Brady._" he said.

"Damn." said Audrey. "This guy might have a family history in more ways than one."

For the first time in that room, Goren was speechless.

"Nobody else knows, too." said Parkman. "Whatever I said earlier, it's impossible to get anything else that's actually conclusive from him..."

"That, along with the fact that he still hasn't given a good enough reason for knowing a word that's been kept hidden under the highest possible security. It ought to be enough for the higher-ups to let me keep him here until you get deeper. Better safe than sorry, right?"

"_Safe_" would not have been the word used by Audrey Hansen at the time if she had known just what Detective Alexandra Eames was planning to do.


End file.
